This invention relates to a conveyor and more particularly to a self-cleaning en-masse conveyor for conveying bulk materials.
There have been previously provided many types of conveyors for conveying a wide variety of bulk materials. One type of such conveyor is the en-masse drag-flight conveyor manufactured by The Essmueller Company of St. Louis, Mo. and by InterSystems, Inc. of Omaha, Nebr. En-masse drag-flight conveyors normally include small rectangular chain flights which move along the bottom of a conveyor housing to convey the material. Another type of conveyor is the round bottom or U-shaped bottom conveyors having semi-circular chain flights employed therein.
The prior art conveyors suffer from certain disadvantages. One disadvantage of the prior art conveyors is that the bottom of the conveyor housing wears and must be frequently replaced. In the U-shaped conveyors, such replacement is extremely costly since the bottom forms a large portion of the conveyor housing itself. In an effort to overcome the bottom replacement problem, liners are frequently positioned in the bottoms of the housings but the liners are quite expensive and must also be frequently replaced. Further, the liners can trap material causing contamination.
Yet another disadvantage of the prior art conveyor described hereinabove is that they may not generally be inclined more than 20.degree..
A further disadvantage of the prior art conveyors is that they are too large in relation to the amount of material conveyed and thereby their use is limited in tight spaces. Further, the self-cleaning intermediate gates of the prior art conveyors are not practical and are not truly self-cleaning. Additionally, the prior art conveyors normally experience a problem of the chain flights occasionally "riding-up" onto the conveyor side wall.
It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a self-cleaning conveyor which is capable of large capacities in a small space such as en-masse conveyors.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a self-cleaning, tall flight conveyor capable of inclines up to 60.degree..
Yet another object of invention is to provide a conveyor of the type described wherein the lining of the conveyor section is accomplished by means of a removable bottom panel.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a conveyor wherein the removable bottom panel may be easily replaced and cleaned.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a conveyor having a removable bottom panel which may have various thicknesses without requiring a change in the chain flight size.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a conveyor wherein the intermediate discharge gates are truly self-cleaning to maintain product integrity.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a conveyor wherein the flights cannot "ride-up" onto the side wall of the conveyor housing.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a conveyor of the type described which is economical of manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.
These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.